What the world really needs is more love and less paper work. – Pearl Bailey
Paperwork! UGH! Welcome to the DMV. What I need is some compassion and understanding, not more paperwork. I feel like a number and not a person.
What does that mean?
To me, this quote is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but still worth the effort to examine. With the advent of the computer and the so-called “paperless society,” we seem to have more and more paperwork everywhere we go. The paperwork is usually provided and returned to a clerk or other bureaucrat, who is usually just a streaming beacon of sunshine, right? At least that’s been my experience.
The opposite of that poor working stiff behind the counter would be someone overflowing with true compassion and love. This quote is saying we need a little more love in the world and not so much of the bureaucrat and the accompanying paperwork. Or, if we must be stuck with some paperwork still, at least we should endeavor to put as much love and good cheer into the process as we can manage.
Why is love important?
In the context of the quote, I’m going to go with the word ‘love’ meaning a brotherly, helpful kind of love, rather than a romantic love. This love of one’s fellow humans is important because it is part of what holds a family and a group of friends together. On a larger scale, it is a key component of what holds communities and nations together.
With this love towards a larger group of people, it is easier to be kind to them, or at least it is for me. It also makes it easier to feel their pain and figure out how we might help them. It also makes us more willing to help them, and even to sacrifice some for their benefit. And that, not paperwork, is what makes the world go around.
Where can I apply this in my life?
Brotherly love, caring for others as if they were family. That’s a nice idea, but (depending on how tight your family is) that can take a lot of time and effort. You have to draw the line somewhere, don’t you? I suppose that’s the case, but where does it get drawn? That’s going to vary based on you, the situation, as well as how much time and effort you can source.
Let’s start by examining how much brotherly love you presently supply to strangers or acquaintances. I don’t want to count friends, as they’re already at least partway inside your circle, right? Grab some paper and write down some of the things you do on a regular basis to help others.
This might be as simple as a smile, a wave, saying ‘hello,’ or greeting them by name. This might include a courtesy like holding a door open, picking up something someone else dropped, or letting someone in ahead of you in traffic. Next to each entry, put a number to indicate how often you actually do this thing each week.
I hope you took a few moments and assessed how well you are presently doing. I know I didn’t have as much written down as I had hoped, how about you? That leads us into the next section quite nicely, where we can consider how we can improve our performance.
Were there some things you wish had more marks? Were there some things you thought of, but for which you have no marks? Are there other things you have thought of during the exercise that you want to add to your range of options? Did you think of other situations where you could do some of these things?
Add all the new things to the list, and add any new situations to your list as well. Now take a moment and start to combine them, so you have a range of possibilities. For me, I check around me anytime I am passing through a door, to see if I can hold it for anyone. That way, I’m always ready to take advantage of that opportunity to show a little brotherly love.
The possibilities, permutations, and combinations are quite large, so focus on just a few of them for now. Perhaps one or two a week would be a good number. Then focus on that item (or items) until it becomes a habit. It took me a while to get used to saying ‘hi’ to strangers, but eventually I got used to it. Start small, do two or three a day, then build until you have to look to find people to say ‘hi’ to, because you need so many!
One step at a time, just add a little more love each day. And hold the paperwork, please!
From: Twitter, @TheQuoteToday
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/pearlbaile106221.html
Photo by antigone78
